Lifeless And Lonley
by FireFriday
Summary: Harry is the BWL, but he isn't treated any different than his other siblings. At least, until Dumbledore gets there. ManipulatingDumbles, MinorOCs, SlytherinHarry, EvilDumbles, GoodVoldemort, SpazticUpdates, and  Please R
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So here's the new story! I took the first two choices on the poll, which were unanimos, and I also took the next two choices which the majority vote for. The result is a manipulativeDumbledore story in which Harry is draco's friend and Voldemort's son. Also, he has siblings. Enjoy.

Chapter One:

The joyful shrieks of children were heard all around the neighborhood, except from one house. Not that anyone would notice of course. After all, this house was hidden from the eyes of everyone in the neighborhood, save one man, Peter Pettigrew.

Perhaps that was the reason Lily and James had let their guard down that night. Whatever it was that convinced them to leave the house, it was a bad idea.

It had started out as a harmless idea. Lily wanted to take her one-year-old son trick or treating. James had fought against it in the beginning, but he had changed his mind later on. He wanted to see his newest son trick or treat too.

Before either of them knew it, their two oldest kids had heard about it and had already decided what they wanted to be. Lily couldn't stand to see any of her sons unhappy, so she went ahead and made them costumes.

James Charlus Potter Jr., her oldest son, was five years old. He was the spitting image of his father with a mop of black hair on his head and hazel eyes covered with beer bottle glasses, even at the age of five. This year, he wanted to be a knight in shining armor, like the ones James had told him stories about. He loved everything that involved James.

Lily and James's middle son, Michael Remus Potter, was three years old. He followed James Jr. around everywhere, so he also followed James Sr. Michael looked like a healthy mix of both parents. He had block hair that shown red when sunlight fell upon it. It wasn't straight, but it was less messy than James's. His eyes where hazel, but he didn't need glasses like James. As soon as he heard that James Jr. wanted to be a knight, he said he wanted to be a knight. James Jr. threw a fit, so Lily convinced Michael to be a dragon instead, which he agreed to easily.

Harry Sirius Potter was their youngest son. He was one year old. Harry looked just like James, but he had Lily's eyes. Since Harry was so young, Lily chose his costume for him. He went dressed up as a lion.

The kids had even roped Lily and James into going. Lily was going as a bowling ball and James was going as a bowling pin. Even though they were all wizards, Lily liked to take them to do muggle things. She had taken them bowling multiple times, as well as go-carting, to the movies, to the beach, and to muggle restaurants.

Lily made all of the costumes by hand, like she always did. She liked to know just what she was getting and that it would fit correctly.

On the night of Halloween, they all walked outside and onto the streets. James Jr. and Michael eagerly ran from house to house, gobbling up sweets like animals. They all had a grand time and got tons of candy.

Soon, it was past Harry's bed time. He was falling asleep in Lily's arms. Lily was getting tired as well, but the boys, including James Sr., were bursting with energy. So Lily took Harry and went home.

She had just laid him on the bed when she heard a sound from down stairs. Walking down, lily called out. "James? Honey, is that you?" no one answered.

When she reached the bottom, Lily saw that the door was blown off. Getting scared, Lily turned around to find two red, snake-like eyes staring at her. A red light flew at her and she knew no more.

Voldemort laughed as he stunned the women. Normally, he would have killed her, but he wanted to see her face when she heard what he'd done to her baby, her youngest child. At least, that was what he was told to think. The poor man was about to kill a one year old boy, and he wasn't even in control of his own body. Every time he tried to figure out who was, he just got a strange fuzzy feeling. He couldn't concentrate.

Voldemort was marched up the stairs to a small room over to the left. Inside the Gryffindor colored room was some toys, a mobile, a changing table, and a crib. Inside the crib was a small boy, fast asleep.

As Voldemort walked around the crib, he pulled up his wand. His tongue was forced to begin uttering the two words that struck fear into every man, women, and child's heart. Before they were completed, Voldemort got his first look of the boy. His face was what cleared Voldemort's mind and made him concentrate. He knew what he had to do now. There was no way he could stop saying the spell, not now. He was on the last syllable. So, doing the only thing he could, he forced his hand to move. The wand glided further from the boy and closer to Voldemort. Soon it was at his own head, and not a moment too soon. He had just finished the last word.

Flinching, the supposed 'Dark lord' was shattered into oblivion. 'Now that was strange.' Voldemort thought after the spell was cast. 'I should have just died, not been blown up. Wait a second, how am I still thinking? Shouldn't I be dead?' What the 'Dark Lord' didn't know was that not only was he not dead, he would come back to life. It was all for the love of that boy in there. Love, was what saved him.

# # #

Far away in his office, Dumbledore sighed. This wasn't going as planned. James, Lily, and the entire family was supposed to die. Voldemort was to kill them and then perform the curse on Harry. That way Harry could be raised by the Dursleys and Dumbledore would sweep in, becoming his hero. From there, it would be easy for Harry to be molded into his pawn.

Now he had problems. There was no way Lily and James would give Harry up, they loved him too much. Maybe he could save his plans, if he tried. Pondering, Dumbledore apparated to Grodic's Hollow. Walking up to the nursery, Dumbledore passed Lily like she was nothing.

When he got there, Dumbledore saw Harry alive and awake. He walked up to him and cast a spell, making a scar that would never go away. It was shaped like a lightning bolt.

As quickly as he came, he left, waiting to be told what happened by James as he flooed him. He didn't have to wait long. When he got there, he acted just as surprised as everyone else. When the time came, Dumbledore proclaimed Harry to be the Boy-Who-Lived.

Please review! I love them!

FF out.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay, so here's chapter two! I hope you all enjoy it, but I myself didn't. I felt it was rushed, which it is. But don't worry! Next chapter will be loads better, seeing as it's the Hogwarts part and I'm really looking forward to it. This one was just kinda a lead up to it. Anyway, R&R Please!

Chapter Two

Harry was overjoyed the moment he woke up, although you never would have noticed. He had his customary poker face on, even while sleeping. It was better that way.

Getting out of bed, Harry rushed to get ready that morning. He wasn't in a rush, but he wanted to make sure they didn't leave without him. He figured if he was ready earlier than his siblings, Lily and James would have to take him too. He knew it was strange to refer to his 'parents' by their first names, but he couldn't help it. They had never really been his parents.

Parents were people who cared and nurtured their children. While Lily and James did that for his siblings, they didn't for Harry, at least, not anymore. Harry, having a photographic mind, remembered everything. He remembered a time when his parents loved him equally. And he also remembered what caused them to stop.

James and Lily were sitting down on the couch in the sitting room. A four year old Harry was sitting in the middle of them. "Harry," Lily started off. "Do you know why you have that scar on your forehead?" Of course Harry knew, but it was all very confusing, so he shook his head. "Well, you have to understand. There was an evil wizard called You-Know-Who. He was the meanest and most evil wizard in the world. He came into our house on Halloween to kill you. When he tried, you deflected it back at him. That's why everyone calls you the Boy-Who-Lived."

"But that's not what happened!" Harry cried out. Lily and James just stared at him. "The snake like man didn't try to kill me, he just stood there. Dumbledore was the one that came in and killed him! Then he gave me this scar!" Harry shouted, remarkably well for a four year old.

Of course Lily and James were shocked and shot down Harry's remark. Later, while they were telling Dumbledore, Harry listened in to them.

"He's making up crazy stories Albus. He says that you're the one that gave him the scar!" Lily told Dumbledore. To say he was shocked that Harry remembered was an understatement. There was no possible way that Harry could remember, and yet, he did. He couldn't let this continue or all of his plans would be destroyed!

"I was afraid this would happen." Dumbledore said in his grandfatherly voice. "It seems that you have spoiled young Harry too much. He thinks he's better than everyone else. Once your daughter was born, some of that attention was taken away from him."

"But Albus," James protested, "Caroline was born two years ago!"

"Be that as it may, Harry feels threatened by her. He wants attention."

"What do we do?" Lily asked.

"I'm afraid there is only one solution. You must not give Harry the attention he seeks."

"I will not neglect my child!" Lily yelled.

"It's the only way. Don't worry, it's only temporary, and Harry will thank you when he gets older. "

It had only gotten worse from there. Soon, whenever something went wrong, it was Harry's fault. If Harry did something right, James Jr., Michael, or Caroline Lillian Potter, his younger sister, would be congratulated. Caroline was a mini Lily in looks and in personality. The only difference was that she had James's eyes.

Caroline always blamed things on Harry. She tattled on him for things he didn't do constantly. When James Jr. or Michael hit him, Lily and James Sr. just turned a blind eye until Caroline came and told them that Harry had started it.

One time, while trying to get some praise from Lily and James, Harry found one of their old third year potions books. He made the poly juice potion right on his first try. When Harry showed this to James and Lily, they yelled at him and tried to get him interested in charms like his mom and sister or transfiguration like his dad and brothers, but he just couldn't give up potions, he loved them too much.

So in between all of the fake neglect and real hate, Lily and James had stopped loving their youngest 'son'.

Running into the kitchen, Harry saw that he was the first one there. He ate a hurried breakfast and then grabbed his Hogwarts letter he had just gotten on his birthday. James Jr. was already there was a fifth year and Michael was a third year. Both of them were Gryffindors, through and through. Somehow, even with his horrible grades (James Jr. didn't believe in studying for anything or working in anything but transfiguration and DADA), he still got Head boy. Harry suspected favoritism.

Soon, James Jr. and Sr. came down the stairs, shortly followed by Michael. They all just stared at Harry. Caroline, who was only nine, came down with Lily. She scowled at Harry and asked, "Does he have to come with us?"

Lily smiled at her perfect little girl. Then she scowled at Harry just like the nine year old. "No. He can get his stuff himself." She turned to Harry. "Here's some money, now go!" Harry didn't need to be told twice, he was glad they had given him the money.

Harry practically jumped into the fireplace as he yelled out, "Diagon Alley!" Tumbling out of the fireplace, Harry got back up and headed out to shop, avoiding everyone's eyes. He hated the way they always stared at him. Maybe he'd grow his hair out while he was at Hogwarts.

Harry made a bee line for Flourish and Blotts. He bought all of his required books as well as some light reading, meaning an additional five or six books. There was a pretty good chance of him being in Ravenclaw.

Harry next went to the Apothecary. He spent about an hour just looking at all of the different potion ingredients. He bought some extra mandrake roots, knowing they came in handy in most potions. Also, he bought a tiny bit of Phoenix tears. While they were expensive, they were good for about anything.

Having that out of the way, Harry went to the next store, Ollivander's. This was the part Harry was looking forward to most of all, well besides the sorting. The door chimed as Harry entered. Looking around, Harry saw no one. Suddenly, a man popped up out of nowhere. "Mr. Potter. I expected to be seeing you soon. Now, you must come with me, over here."

Harry followed Ollivander to the backroom, wondering why they weren't trying out the wands at the front. "Listen to me Mr. Potter, and listen closely. Dumbledore wants me to make sure that you get the wrong wand, a wand that won't work for you. I could never do such a thing, do not worry. Here are some wands I think might suit you more." Ollivander gestured to some wands on a table. Harry was immediately drawn to the only pitch black one there. He picked it up. Sparks all color of the rainbows shot out and enveloped Harry, masking him from view. When they disappeared, Ollivander was looking at him with a smile on his face. "I had a feeling about that wand I did." He kept saying to himself. "Black oak wood, snake venom core, 9 ½ inches. 7 galleons Mr. Potter and quick! Dumbledore must not find out!" Ollivander said as he shooed Harry out of the store, Harry barely had time to pay the man.

After the strange visit to the wand maker, Harry walked over to Madam Malkin's. "Hogwarts dear?" Harry nodded. "I've got another one right over there." she said pointing to a blonde haired kid standing on a stool getting fitted. "Well off you go!" Harry scampered off to the stool next to the kid. He could sense he didn't want to mess with this woman.

"Greetings. I am Draco, heir of the Noble house of Malfoy." He said, putting out his hand.

"By the grace of magic I, Harry, wish health onto you and your house." Harry said, mostly following pureblood tradition. Normally he would give his last name, but he didn't really feel like he had one. If Draco noticed, he didn't care.

"And you as well. So, what house do you think you're going to be in? I'm going to be in Slytherin myself, my whole family has."

Now Harry remembered where he had heard the name Malfoy before, his dad had told them to never become friends with one. Harry decided to do just that. "I'd like to be in Slytherin, but as long as I'm not in Gryffindor, I'll be happy."

Malfoy chuckled at that. "I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"Definitely." Harry agreed right as Madam Malkin came over.

"Alright, you're all done." She told Draco.

Draco nodded at her and Harry before saying, "I'll see you on the Express, Harry!" Now it was Harry's turn to nod at him.

Soon Harry was done. He headed back 'home' to get a few hours alone. Harry just hoped Hogwarts would come soon.

A/N: Please review, and remember, it will get better next chapter! This chapter just sort of had to happen.

FF Out.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Before I start, I would like to address the review of (). So, I wanted to thank you for the criticism, I feel it helped a lot. As far as the infantile amnesia, I had no idea, as you figured. Normally, I would change it, but I feel it works for the story and Dumbledore's manipulation. But I will keep it in mind for future stories, thanks. For the whole pureblood greeting, I have to admit, I just glanced over it. I have never read that book or been in any kind of formal setting whatsoever. Do you think you could help me with that? I may also require some help with other pureblood things. I agree that I rushed through Harry's childhood, but I felt Hogwarts was more important. However, I think I may be putting flashbacks throughout his time at Hogwarts to show the difference, but again, I may need some ideas. I think that Lily and James are a bit more dynamic then just hating their child. Deep down, I think at least one of them feels that special bond between a child and their parents; they just believe they are doing the right thing. Anyway, thanks for all of the help, I may need a lot of it. Thanks

anyway, long A/N, I'm sorry, but enjoy!

Chapter 3:

Lily and James Potter stepped out of the muggle car Lily had driven to Kings Cross. After them, their three, I mean four, kids walked out. James took James Jr.'s and Michael's trunks out of the back, but left Harry's in there for him to get. Until he decided to act like a proper Gryffindor, James would treat him like the slime he was.

Sighing, Harry struggled to get his trunk out by himself. He walked slightly behind the rest of the family until they met up with the Weasleys. Then Harry bolted for the platform. James Jr. was good friends with Percy Weasley and Michael was good friends with the Weasley twins, so it was expected that Harry would be good friends with Ron. Harry wanted to avoid that at all costs.

Harry barley stopped to think as he ran through the barrior and onto platform nine ¾. Looking at the obviously red and gold train, Harry scoffed in disgust. How was he the only one that saw the Headmaster's bias and favoritism?

Harry shook his head before he tried to load his trunk onto the train. With all the magic around you think they would give a soon to be first year, and a tiny one at that, some help getting his trunk on. Finally, Harry managed to get his trunk on, no thanks to everyone else. He had to use that levitating charm he had been practicing all month.

The train wasn't that crowded, so Harry found an empty compartment easily. He sat down to read his book and try not to be jealous of the kids who had loving parents to say goodbye to them.

Just before the train was set to depart, the door opened. Harry looked up as Draco calmly walked in. "There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you. Why don't you come and sit with me?"

"Sure, thanks Draco." Harry grabbed all of his stuff and followed Draco to the back of the train.

# # #

Michael was ecstatic to see the Weasleys again. However, he wasn't ecstatic to see ickle Ronnikins. He had only been there for a few minutes and already his mere presence was annoying Michael. Between him and the twins, they managed to shoo him out of the compartment. "What am I supposed to do?" Ron whined. He was always whining.

"Why don't you go find that deadbeat brother of mine?" Michael sneered at him. Ron just huffed and made his way down the train. He checked every compartment but couldn't find Harry. Just as he was about to give up, he heard laughing.

Turning to the last compartment, Ron opened the door. Once open, Ron could do nothing but stare. Inside, Harry was sitting and laughing, actually laughing, with mini Death Eaters! Ron screamed and ran away.

Running back to the front of the train, Ron pounded on the door of Michael's compartment. Fred, or was it George, opened the door and glared at Ron. "What?" he demanded annoyed.

"Harry….laughing…..happy….Death Eaters!" Ron stammered out. All four teenagers (Lee Jordon had joined them when Ron was away) gaped at Ron.

"Spit it out!" one of the twins yelled.

"I went looking for Harry and I found him in the last compartment laughing with Malfoy and all the other mini death eaters!" Ron screamed.

"WHAT?" Michael was mad now. It was one thing to treat your brother like crap so he wouldn't become a spoiled brat, but it was another thing to leave him to the mercy of Death Eaters.

Michael charged down the train. He slammed the door open and saw his brother, just like Ron had said. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? EVEN YOU KNOW BETTER THAN TO HANG AROUND WITH SNAKES!" At this point, Michael made a lunge at Harry, planning to drag him out by his ear.

Before he could reach him, however, Crabbe and Goyle stood up to block the way as Draco pulled out his wand an prepared to duel the third year, even though he had no chance.

"Michael! Leave me alone! You have no choice on who I make friends with!" Harry yelled, fed up with his brother.

"They're Death eaters in training! They'll kill you the first chance they get! Even you should see that the Boy-Who-Lived has no business being friends with mini Death Eaters!"

Harry tried to ignore the looks of shock on all of his new friends' faces. It wasn't that hard when he focused on yelling at his brother. "Leave me alone! It's my life, not yours! Not Mom's, not Dad's, not yours, not James's, not Dumbledore's, MINE! I'll live it the way I want to!"

Michael was too shell shocked to do anything but stand there. Harry had never yelled at him before. Maybe… Nah. They treated him like that for his own good, right?

Harry pushed Michael out of the compartment and locked the door. He looked back at his friends. Right, they had heard all of that. "Umm, look I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore, but-"

"Harry." Draco interrupted. "It's fine, we can still be friends."

"Really? Won't your parents be mad when you tell them you're friends with the Boy-Who-Lived?" Harry spit out the words as if they were poison. To him, they were. Those words were what ruined his life.

"Yeah, it's fine." Draco assured him. Harry smiled.

"We should probably get dressed. The train is going to be getting there soon I'd imagine." he added after a small silence. Everyone agreed. The boys got out and went to the bathroom to let the girls change in the compartment.

Soon after, the train stopped. They were told to leave all of their stuff on the train, so they did. Following a crowd, they approached a huge man yelling out, "Firs' years, firs' years!" They followed him to some boats where Harry shared with Draco, Crabbe and Goyle. They all awaited their first site of the magnificent castle with baited breath.

A/N: I know, I know, I keep you waiting for forever and then don't even get to Hogwarts! Sorry! I'm hoping the Hogwarts chapter will be more cooperative than this one. I had to rewrite it a bunch. I'm happy with it now though, so HA! I laugh at you writers block! LAUGH! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Haha, I'm back! And I'm not dead! I'm sorry I took so long, I was really busy, but hey! It's 1,359 words! Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter Four:

The castle was indeed magnificent. Harry had never seen anything like it. It was huge, but homey. It was awe inspiring. The towers stretched into the sky with their might. Harry couldn't believe anything that tall could stand on its own, but it was.

The boats pulled up at the shore. Hagrid told them all to get out and follow him into the school, which they did. Inside, a strict looking woman with black hair met them. Hagrid called her Professor McGonagall. She introduced herself as the Gryffindor head of house.

"Figures," Malfoy said as soon as she left. "It wasn't obvious enough to have a Gryffindor colored train, oh no, now the person we meet right before getting sorted is the Gryffindor head of house. Biased old fool. How can no one else see this?"

"Because they think Gryffindor is the best house, so they don't care." Harry supplied.

"I wonder what the sorting's going to be like." Some random person said.

"My brother told me we're going to be wrestling trolls." Ron said loudly, so that everyone could hear.

"Well, it didn't say anything about that in _Hogwarts, A History. _I already memorized all of our course books, I hope it'll be enough." A brown haired girl said.

Out of nowhere, everyone started screaming. Harry and Draco turned around to see what it was and saw ghosts. One ghost came up and told them that they should all be in Gryffindor, his old house. Draco scoffed again.

Professor McGonagall came back in through the door. "They're ready for you." She herded all of the first years into a line and had them march in. In the room, if it could be called that, there were five tables. Four ran the length of the hall and had students from the different houses. The fifth one ran the other way and had all of the teachers. Dumbledore sat in the middle, locking eyes with all of the first years, probably reading their minds. To his right was an empty seat, presumably where Professor McGonagall would be sitting. To his left was a man wearing all black that Harry thought was Professor Snape. Harry's brothers and dad did nothing but wine about how unfair and evil he was. Harry hoped he didn't hate him because of his last name. The other teachers Harry didn't know.

Professor McGonagall walked up to the front where a hat and a stool sat. The hat opened its mouth and sang.

When the song was over, everyone clapped and Professor McGonagall unscrolled a piece of parchment. She read off the first name, "Abbot, Hannah." who became a Hufflepuff. She kept reading down the names until she got to "Granger, Hermione." The hat, after a while, put her in Gryffindor. Harry was glad, she seemed annoying.

Draco was called after Granger. The hat barely touched his head before is put him in Slytherin.

Finally, Harry's turn came. As soon as McGonagall called out, "Potter, Harry," the whole hall broke out in whispers. "Did she say Potter?" "The Potter?" "Harry Potter?"

Harry walked up to the stool and sat down. The hat was placed on his head. "_My my, what do we have here? There's talent, oh my goodness yes, but Ravenclaw's not right for you. Hmm, a lot of loyalty, yes, but only to those who earn it. Hufflepuff won't work. You're brave, but I can see that you aren't one to run in somewhere blind. You're more cunning, you think about things beforehand. I think SLYTHERIN!" _The hat shouted the last part out loud. Harry took the hat off to see everyone staring at him. Draco was the only one clapping. Soon, the rest of the Slytherin's clapped, but not very enthusiastically. Gryffindor got out of its shock and started booing.

Dumbledore was in too much shock to stop them. How could this happen? He had planned everything! Everything had been thought out so that when Harry came to Hogwarts, he would be the perfect little savior, the Gryffindor Golden Boy. Something must have gone wrong. No matter, he could get Harry resorted and where he belonged.

Severus, on the other hand, was confused. The hat had put a Potter in Slytherin. A Potter in Slytherin! Who ever heard of such a thing? It was impossible! Yet, Severus could see it in Harry's eyes. He belonged in Slytherin. Draco was a great judge of character, and if he though Harry was a Slytherin, then he was.

Realizing what was happening to a member of his house, Severus calmly said, "Twenty points from Gryffindor for booing. Per student." The glass dropped down until it showed "-700." The hall was silent once more. Harry nodded thanks at Snape.

McGonagall called out to Snape, "Severus, you can't take away 700 points! no house has ever gotten that many before! How are we supposed to be able to win the house cup?"

"That is you're problem. I simply said twenty points per student. It was their own fault that they were all booing."

Fuming, McGonagall resumed the sorting. Weasley was sorted into Gryffindor, no surprise there. When the sorting was done, Dumbledore came up to the front of the platform and said a bunch of nonsense words. Then they all ate.

After dinner, prefects led each house to their dormitories. The Slytherin's common room was in the dungeons. The password was Tenebrae nos vigere, which is Latin for, "We thrive in darkness."

Inside, the common room was decorated entirely in green and sliver. There were a few couches and fireplaces scattered around, as well as tables for studying. The boys dormitories were to the right and the girl's to the left. Stairs led down to each room. The older you were the further down you were.

Before they could explore their dormitories, Professor Snape came in. he told the first years to remain for a mandatory house meeting. They all plopped down onto the couches and waited for him to begin talking.

"I do not tolerate fighting in this house. If you must fight with someone else in Slytherin, do it in here. Outside, we must remain united. Everyone thinks this house is evil. They will make fun of you for it. Do not fight back! If you must do something, make sure you aren't caught. I do not tolerate failing. If you have trouble, you may ask me or one of the older students. You will read every book cover to cover before you're first class in that subject. You will have transfiguration and charms first thing in the morning, so I expect you to have those books read. Also, curfew for first years is right after dinner. Lights out is nine o'clock. You will be thanking me in the morning. You will be at breakfast, lunch, and dinner on time. You will be in your classes on time. For the first week, the seventh years will show you to your class. If you get lost after that, ask the portraits. They will help you. That is all."

At the obvious dismissal, the first years got up to go to their dormitories. However, the door to the common room opening stopped them. Dumbledore walked in. "Harry my boy!" he called out.

"Please make it quick headmaster, the first years, including Mr. Potter, are going to bed." Snape said, seeing that Harry was about to correct the headmaster on what he had called him.

"Of course, of course. Harry, I was going to ask you when you wanted to be resorted.

"I don't. The hat believes I will be a good Slytherin, and so do I. I like it here."

"But surely you would be more conferrable in Gryffindor!"

"I do not think I would Headmaster. As I said, I like it here. Now, I must e getting to bed. Goodnight." Harry turned and walked up to his dormitory while Dumbledore bristled. This was not the way it was supposed to go! Dumbledore turned and walked out of the door, already planning his next desperate maneuver.

Severus smiled. Maybe having a Potter wouldn't be all that bad.


	5. Chapter 5

_Last time:_

_"I do not think I would Headmaster. As I said, I like it here. Now, I must be getting to bed. Goodnight." Harry turned and walked up to his dormitory while Dumbledore bristled. This was not the way it was supposed to go! Dumbledore turned and walked out of the door, already planning his next desperate maneuver. _

_ Severus smiled. Maybe having a Potter wouldn't be all that bad. _

Chapter Five

Harry woke up the next morning feeling much better than he ever had. He knew it might not last, but he was glad he had the feeling. Having read the Charms and Transfiguration books before he had come to school, as was good practice, Harry didn't have to get up much before breakfast.

Harry shared his room with Draco. Each room in Slytherin only had two people in them. There were two beds, two desks, and two drawers. The boys had unpacked the night before.

Harry got out of bed and woke Draco up, wanting to make sure they weren't the first to get on Professor Snape's bad side. Draco had moaned and groaned, but finally had gotten up.

Making their way to the common room, they were met with Crabbe, Goyle, Daphne Greengrass, and Pansy Parkinson. They all sat together at the Slytherin table, not showing any of the awkwardness of first days that the other houses were. They had taken Professor Snape's words to heart.

All too soon, the inevitable howler came. The family owl, Snitch, came down to Harry. He was a tan owl that had been in the family for years. James Jr. had been the one to name him, and he had been thinking of Quidditch at the time. No one seemed to mind.

Harry gingerly pulled the letter off the owl's leg, hoping to save the letter until he could be somewhere a little more private. Alas, the letter opened as soon as it came off of the owl.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" his dad's voice echoed through the hall. "HOW DARE YOU BE SORTED INTO SLYTHERIN WITH ALL THE SLIMEY SNAKES! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? AND WHY WOULD YOU REFUSE THE HEADMASTER'S OFFER TO BE RESORTED? YOU SHOULD BE BEGGING ON YOUR HANDS AND KNEES TO BE ALOUD INTO GRYFFINDOR!" Suddenly, Lily's voice cut in.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS? HOW COULD YOU TURN YOUR BACK ON US AFTER EVERYTHING WE DID FOR YOU? WE GAVE YOU A HOME AND YOU GO AND JOIN THE DEATH EATERS? HOW DARE YOU!"

Of course, Caroline had to put her two sense in. "YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A STUPID, SLIMEY, GOOD FOR NOTHING SNAKE! I'M ASHAMED TO CALL YOU MY BROTHER!"

James's voice returned. "THIS IS THE LAST STRAW! YOU ARE, AS OF NOW, NO LONGER A POTTER! YOU ARE DISOWNED! EVERYTHING YOU MIGHT HAVE GOTTEN IS ALL GONE! YOU ARE NEVER TO STEP FOOT INTO POTTER MANOR OR ANY OF OUR OTHER PROPERTIES AGAIN!" The howler finally ate itself to shreds.

At the same time, a black light enveloped Harry, signaling how he had been disowned. 'Not the way I wanted to start my first day of school...' Harry thought as he and all the other Slytherins went right on eating breakfast. Soon, only the Gryffindors were left gawking and/or laughing.

"That's what you get you slimy git!" Ron yelled from his table.

"Stupid snake!" James Jr. yelled. He didn't have a knack for good come backs.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for your rudeness." Snake calmly said. Inside, he was ecstatic. He hadn't taken this many points in years!

Meanwhile, McGonagall was steaming and glaring at Ron and James Jr., and any other Gryffindor who dared to lose them points when they had so little.

The rest of breakfast passed without incident. The students all got their time tables from their Heads of Houses. First was Transfiguration and Charms, as Professor Snape had promised. Also as promised, a seventh year student led the first year Slytherins to their first class.

Professor McGonagall scowled at the Slytherins as they arrived first. How dare they arrive before her Gryffindors? Perhaps she should follow Severus's advice…. but that would mean admitting he was right, which she was not desperate enough to do.

The bell rang, catching McGonagall off guard. Her lions still weren't here! Of all the days to be late, it had to be the day they had Transfiguration with the Slytherins. Blasted mini Death Eaters, the lot of them. A house full of Death Eaters led by a Death Eater. And Harry Potter. The supposed, Boy-Who-Lived. How could he be a Death Eater?

McGonagall was brought out of her thoughts by a cough. The Slytherins were staring at her. Before she could yell at them for disrupting her, she heard yelling in the hallway. As it came closer, she realized it was the Gryffindors, her lions, her pride and joy. And they were arriving late to her class! She would speak with them later. For now, onto the lecture.

Professor McGonagall gave the students a lecture on behavior and transfiguration. Harry noticed that many of these rules had been broken by the Gryffindors, who weren't paying attention, but he didn't feel like losing points for 'interrupting a lecture.' Professor McGonagall had used that excuse four times on the Slytherins, two of which had sneezed, one had coughed, and the other had thrown up. It turns out Blaise had caught the Wizard's flu.

Leaving the class was a relief. A different seventh year came to get the Slytherins and lead them to Charms, who they shared with Ravenclaw. The entire class was on time, seeing as the Ravenclaw Head of House had seen to provide the ravens with maps of the school.

Professor Flitwick had to stand of old books just to see above the desks. When he got to Harry's name on the roll, he almost fell off. Then Harry could have sworn he had seen a glare, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared. The rest of the class was spent receiving another boring lecture about behavior and the expectations of the year.

Harry was glad when a seventh year came to lead them to lunch. He didn't think he could stand anymore animosity from his teacher. Of course, they were only half way through the first day. There had to be a better way to get through the school year.

Lunch was uneventful, for once. Harry and Draco looked over their time tables and smiled. Double potions with the Gryffindors after lunch.

Another seventh year, this time Head Boy, came to take them to potions. He explained how important it was to behave and be respectful in that class. While Professor Snape wouldn't take points in front of Gryffindors, he would do it when they got back to the common room.

By the time the bell rang, only half the class was filled. Snape looked around. While he was unsurprised, nothing could surprise him these days, he was still annoyed that the Gryffindors seemed to think it was unimportant to arrive on time. He was even more annoyed with the fact that Minerva still hadn't seen fit to help her struggling first years. He had suggested that she give them maps or have the seventh years help them, as he had, for 25 times now. Each and every time she claimed that they all managed to find their way and to assign them seventh years would make them feel like children. Perhaps she was right. However, that only applied to lions. His snakes secretly liked having the older kids around, if only to scare potential bullies away.

Finally, the lions arrived. All at once, they started rambling off excuses. Snape couldn't care less, and he told them so as he deducted five points for every minute they were late. Yes, this year was going to be a lot of fun.

After giving them the standard lecture, and asking simple questions of various Gryffindors, Snape waved his wand at the board and the instructions for a boil cure potion showed up. As a whole, the Slytherins were producing great potions. However, Crabbe and Goyle's skills left much to be desired. He would have to help them in the common room tonight.

Glancing over to Draco and Harry's potion, Snape was proud to see the perfect potion, if not at a lost for words. Snape was sure that James would have made sure that Harry hated potions, but it seemed that he was a natural. The more he looked, the more he realized. Harry seemed to be a physical manifestation of everything that James hated. Curious.

Reacting to an explosion, Snape turned around. Weasley and Longbottom were covered in their potion, and everyone around them has pulled their legs up onto their desks. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off of the fire?" Snape snapped at the elven year olds. Longbottom looked ashamed-as he should- but Weasley was slowly growing red. "You, Ms. Granger, take Mr. Weasley and Mr. Longbottom to the infirmary."

"Greasy git." Weasley mumbled under his breath.

"Ten points Mr. Weasley, and detention tonight after dinner."

At the end of the class, only Draco and Harry ad perfect potions. He gave the rest of the class a two foot essay on the boil cure potion, while the two boys got a one foot essay on basilisk fangs and their uses in potions.

Dinner was great, at least until Ron stormed in and started complaining about his detention and how unfair the 'Slimy Snake' had been to him. Neville moved to the complete opposite side of the hall from him.

After dinner, Draco and Harry finished their essays and helped Crabbe and Goyle with theirs. Soon it was time for bed, which they were all grateful for.

It was sometime around midnight when Draco awoke. Normally he wouldn't awake until rudely forced out of bed by his roommate, mom, or whoever had the misfortune of needing him up early. Draco immediately knew something was wrong.

Looking over, Draco saw Harry withering around in pain, obviously having a nightmare. He kept moaning, "No, please don't! I'll be good, I'll be good!"

Draco shook Harry out of his deep sleep. "Harry, are you okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I was just having a dream, I'll be fine." For some reason, Draco believed him.

A/N: So sorry, that probably wasn't as long as most of you hoped. I'm hoping to gradually get longer each time. I don't want to promise anything, but my muse came back, so I think updates may actually be quicker. Also, you may have noticed, I changed flashbacks to nightmares. I did this mainly because I didn't want to disappoint anyone with my horrible flashback writing. Seeing as I use to get nightmares, I can write them better. Anyway, please review!


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I know, I'm really, really, really x10000000000 sorry! I'm not sure what got into me, but I just couldn't write. I'm sorry to those amazing people out there who have stuck with me and to you I say, thank you! A bunch!**

_Last Time:_

_Looking over, Draco saw Harry withering around in pain, obviously having a nightmare. He kept moaning, "No, please don't! I'll be good, I'll be good!"_

_ Draco shook Harry out of his deep sleep. "Harry, are you okay?"_

_ "Hm? Oh, yeah, I was just having a dream, I'll be fine." For some reason, Draco believed him. _

**Chapter Six**

Harry's first week, and the majority of his first two months of school went much the same way. The work got gradually harder, as did his nightmares. They were getting to the point that he couldn't sleep any more, and Harry wasn't sure what to do.

Other than that, nothing exciding had happened at Hogwarts. The only eventful thing was that the Halloween feast was coming up. If it weren't for Professor Snape's strict rules, than Harry would definitely skip it. As it was, he had zoned out. Halloween was the holiday he hated worst of all. Not oly was it the anniversary of the day that his life had been ruined by stupid Bumblebee, it was the day the severed to remind his father of how much of a disgrace to him that he was. At least he didn't have to deal with that anymore.

And of course, along with that train of thought came the ever present worry hanging around his head. Worry, about what he was going to do. He had been disowned, which meant that he could never go back to Potter manor again. True, he was quite happy about that, but it was more of a hindrance than a help. He could stay at Hogwarts for Christmas and Easter, but no one was ever allowed to stay at Hogwarts for summer. Not to mention, almost everyone in the world would want to become Harry's new guardian. Who knows, there may even be people out there worse than the Potters, however unlikely that may be.

Harry was jolted out of his self-pity by Draco, who had been trying to get his attention. At first, Draco had backed off, assuming, quite correctly, that Harry needed some time to think. However, it wouldn't do to leave his friend thinking while a troll attacked him.

"Harry! Come on!" Draco yelled, once again, at Harry. Man, he could ignore everything!

"What?" Came the reply as Harry woke up, more than slightly annoyed.

"Didn't you hear Professor Quirrell? There's a troll in the dungeons! Dumbledore has ordered everyone to their common rooms. Wait a second." Draco paused as something stuck him. "Our common room is _in_ the dungeons!"

Every Slytherin in the near vicinity stopped and looked at Draco, wondering why they didn't catch that themselves. The Slytherin Head Boy brought the attention to Dumbledore.

"Oh, yes, of course! Naturally I meant for everyone to go to their common rooms but you." Dumbledore amended, trying to save his own butt. "You are to… follow the Gryffindors to their common room! Yes, that will work nicely." Dumbledore said with his grandfatherly smile. '_And let's see if we can't turn a few mini Death eaters over to our side. Namely, Harry.'_

"Headmaster," Professor Snape spoke up, "surely you remember that there are wards placed upon the Gryffindor common room, by yourself, that stops any non-Gryffindor from entering, and any exceptions must be formerly acknowledged by yourself beforehand. There is no time to make such exceptions for every Slytherin. It would be much easier to keep them all here, in the Great Hall."

Dumbledore was trapped and he knew it. '_I knew I should have taken those wards down when Harry wasn't sorted in Gryffindor!_' However, even Dumbledore knew that that would have revealed to every Head of House the real reasons that he had put those wards up. It would not do for them to know how Dumbledore had created those wards to stop and other house, mainly Slytherins, from influencing Harry. Dumbledore wanted only the Granger girl and the Weasley boy to have any effect on Harry. _'Yeah, that worked out real well.'_ Dumbledore thought to himself in a moment of bitterness. If only that stupid Weasley boy had gotten to Harry sooner!

Knowing he was beat, Dumbledore conceded and let the Slytherins stay in the great Hall while he and the other teachers went out to find the troll. Dumbledore knew exactly where it was, but let the other teachers hunt for it anyway. After all, it was he who had let the troll in. It was meant to be a test, for Harry. Just as the stone is. However, Harry was greatly disappointing Dumbledore. He seemed to show know interest in any of the things Dumbledore wanted him to be interested in. The only thing the boy really liked was Potions. How in the world did he like Potions? How did anyone like potions?

Dumbledore was broken from his thoughts by a scream coming from a hallway on the left. Running there with all of the other teachers, Dumbledore caught sight of the idiotic Weasley boy. Fool! He had most likely heard about the troll and come running after it. Now he and the Granger girl were hiding under a sink in the girl's bathroom, about to be crushed by the troll's club. And what a vicious troll it was. Dumbledore had really outdone himself this time.

As the other teachers had begun to distract the troll, Dumbledore took the chance to appear as a hero to the first years. After all, they would no doubt tell everyone they knew, and being hero worshiped by the school was never a bad thing.

Dumbledore ran over to Hermione and Ron, picked them up, and ran back, ducking just in time to save them all from the troll's club. Getting back behind the line the teachers had made, Dumbledore set the kids down and told them to go back to their common room. Both nodded and left, but not before thanking him profusely. All in all, a job well done.

Turning his attention back to the troll, Dumbledore readied himself for attack- only to find it already unconscious. _'Less work for me!'_ He thought cheerfully.

The teachers had dispersed as soon as the troll was taken care of, except for Minerva. "Where are the children? Are they all right?" she had asked as soon as she could.

"Yes Minerva, they are fine. I simply told them to go back to their common room." Minerva nodded at this and briskly walked off, presumably to check on her lions. Dumbledore headed back to his office, certain that Snape would take his Slytherins back to their common rom.

# # #

The Slytherins had been slightly worried about the whole affair, but mostly just board. After all, there wasn't really much to do in the Great Hall. Harry and Draco passed the time talking.

"Hey Harry, what are you doing for Christmas day?" Draco asked him, twiddling his thumbs a bit. If asked he would deny it for everything thing it's worth, but he was nervous.

"Well, I figured since I was staying here for break I would just stay here for the day too, isn't that how it works?" Harry asked, not really getting the question.

"Normally, yes, but, well, I asked my dad, and he said that you could come over for Christmas. That is, you can if you want to. I don't want to force you or anything-" Draco rambled.

"Draco, it's fine, I would love to come!" Harry said, a smile crossing his lips. Staying at Malfoy Manor was going to be awesome! Harry couldn't think of anyone else he would rather spend Christmas with, and he told Draco as much. Draco for his part just blushed.

Soon, Professor Snape came and told them that the troll was gone. He led them all to the common room where he told them all to go asleep. No one protested. That alone told him how trying the day had been.

Harry and Draco were among those to go to bed without compliant. They barely had enough time to say goodnight to each other before falling asleep. However, they both knew the bliss would not last.

# # #

Seeing how having a troll suddenly pop into the school could be frightening, even if you didn't see it, Snape decided to check up on his snakes, to make sure that none of them were feeling any effects of the evening's events.

None of them had, it seemed. That was, until he got to Harry and Draco's room. He had thought he heard mumbling coming from there beforehand, but had dismissed it as it had disappeared. Now though, the mumbling had come back, and was far louder than before.

Snape walked briskly to the room and was about to wrench open the door when it opened of its own accord. Draco had opened it and tried to rush out, but had ran head long into the form of one Severus Snape.

"Professor!" Draco exclaimed, sounding relieved. "I was just going to find you! It's Harry, sir, he won't stop. They've been getting worse, I know I should have told you, I'm sorry, but he always seemed alright and he didn't want anyone to know, I'm sorry!" Draco rambled for the second time that night. He was almost in hysterics now.

"Shh, calm down Draco. Take deep breaths. That's it. Now tell me, what has gotten you so riled up?" Snape comforted Draco. Yes, he was capable. Just because he seemed like nothing more than a greasy git doesn't mean he was nothing more than a greasy git.

"Harry, sir. I can't wake him up! He's having another nightmare. They've been getting worse, but he normally always wakes up. I know I should have told you sooner, sir, but harry didn't want me to. I was just about to get you though, sir."

Before Draco had gotten passed, 'It's Harry' Snape had rushed over to his bedside. Spawn of the devil or not, harry was still one of Snape's little snakes. Truthfully, Snape had seen more of Lily in Harry than James, even if the Lily he knew would never disown her child. If that hadn't made him wonder what really went on in that house, than the nightmares did. Harry was tangled in his sheet, his face pale, sweat dripping down his forehead. And all the while he just kept mumbling, "Please stop, I'll be good!.. No, please, don't do that! Anything but that!...Please!"

Snape pulled a potion out of his robe pocket. It was one of his own invention, a nightmare draught. It would instantly awaken anyone currently suffering from a severe nightmare. He had found it to be very useful during the years.

Snape poured the thick liquid down Harry's throat. Harry jumped up, almost hitting Snape in the process. Harry, without quite knowing what he was doing, latched onto Professor Snape. Snape just help Harry there until he managed to calm down on his own.

When Harry came back to the world of the living, he blushed, embarrassed by his actions. Snape let him down back to his bed, saying, "Try to sleep now, but we will talk in the morning. That goes for you as well." He aimed the last part as Draco, who had been standing in the doorway the entire time. He rushed to his bed, complying with the orders.

Snape left the room as soon as he was sure they were going to sleep. Making his way to his own bed, he tried not to think about what the next morning's conversation may reveal.

**A/N: So yeah… I hope you guys think it's worth it! This chapter is about 1,800 words, so it's a bit longer. Also, I am hoping to get the Christmas chapter up by Christmas, and that's a few chapters away so, hopefully that'll work! But I'm not really sure since my midterms are only three weeks away and I really should start studying…**

**Slytherin side: Shut up you stupid Ravenclaw side!**

**RS: But we need a good grade on this! It's one fourth of our semester grade!**

**SS: We have three weeks! We don't even have most of the reviews!**

**RS: So? We can start by going over all of the class material, that's the most important part!**

**SS: Why the heck are you reviewing Geography? We're not even taking that midterm!**

**RS: But we're taking the final! And we need to be prepared!**

**SS:*tries not to kill RS, seeing as that's a form of suicide***

**Okay, not so sure where that came from, I blame the fact that it's like one in the morning… But as you can tell, I'm both Ravenclaw and Slytherin, just mostly Slytherin. It causes problems though..Anway, please review!**

**FF Out.**


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hello people! I'm back Muahahaha! I hope you enjoy the chapter but I will say, I was in a dark place when I wrote this, so it may get sort of graphic at the end…. But anyway, Here's the long awaited talk with professor Snape! Also, 2007 words, without an! :)

_Last time:_

_When Harry came back to the world of the living, he blushed, embarrassed by his actions. Snape let him down back to his bed, saying, "Try to sleep now, but we will talk in the morning. That goes for you as well." He aimed the last part as Draco, who had been standing in the doorway the entire time. He rushed to his bed, complying with the orders. _

_Snape left the room as soon as he was sure they were going to sleep. Making his way to his own bed, he tried not to think about what the next morning's conversation may reveal. _

Chapter 7

Harry woke up at a respectful time the next morning. He laid in bed for a while, glad that it was Saturday and that he didn't have to go to classes. All traces of the good mood vanished however when he remembered what had happened last night, and the conversation that would be taking place soon.

Part of him knew it was childish and pointless, but Harry delayed anyway, hoping if he took too long that professor Snape would forget about their chat and just let it go. No such luck.

It was right after Harry's half an hour long shower that there was a knock on the door. Draco answered it. Seeing that it was Professor Snape, he let him in. "Draco, why don't you go hang out with Crabbe and Goyle?" Draco nodded and with one glance at Harry, left the room.

Professor Snape sat down on Draco's bed and looked at Harry. He had bags under his eyes and looked paler than he should. How long where these nightmare's going on?

Professor Snape was the first one to speak. "Harry, can you tell me what you where dreaming about last night?"

"What do you mean Professor?" Harry asked innocently. Snape sighed. He had hoped Harry wouldn't deny everything that had happened.

"Harry, you know what I mean. The nightmares you've been having, what are they about?"

Harry took one look at the professor and knew he was beaten. But that didn't mean he had to be forthcoming. "Stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Home stuff."

"And what exactly happens at home?" Harry was silent, knowing he said too much. "Don't worry Harry, I won't tell anyone about what you say. It will be between us."

Harry looked at Professor Snape again, but didn't say anything for a while. When he did, he just said, "They'll know, they always know."

"Lily and James?" Harry nodded. "They won't know, and even if they did, they can't do anything about it, they've disowned you, and you can't be taken into that family again without the Wizarding Social Services checking up on you from time to time."

This seemed to actually have an effect on Harry. "The nightmares, they're always the same. I do something wrong again, I don't know what, and James gets mad. He takes me down there, to the scary place. He pulls off his belt, and, he, he uses it." Here Harry took a deep breath, willing himself not to cry. "I know it's not real, when I wake up. I mean, he's never hit me before, but he always says he will. At most all he really does is lock me in the closet, and take away my food. Mom lets him. And there's never a real reason. I use to ask them, why? Why did they do that to me, to their own son? Why did they hate me? They would just glare, and tell me, 'Because you're a freak, you're a worthless freak that no one could ever love. You're lucky we even feed you and let you live here.'" The tears began to fall, darkening the covers of the bed he was sitting on. "And it's true. It's all true. I'm just a freak, no one could ever love me." He was sobbing full out now, the sobs wrenching his small frame.

Professor Snape got up and crossed over to the other side of the room, sitting down next to Harry, hugging the small boy. "It's not true Harry, you're not a freak. You have friends here, friends that like you, that love you. You're not alone anymore."

However, Harry seemed not to hear him. "And the worst part is, they think it's helping me. I heard them, talking to Dumbledore. He told them to do this, to hate me, because they thought I was lying, they thought I was evil. And James Jr. and Michael and Caroline, they've all bought into it. They treat me the same way, saying it's good for me, that I need it." Another sob came. "Why can't they see? He's manipulating all of them! He's manipulating the whole Wizarding World! He has them right where he wants them, and they don't even know! They're fooled by his grandfatherly demeanor, they all just accept that what he says is law!" Objects in the room started shaking. A wind swirled around Harry. Professor Snape tried to calm him down, but he was on a role now. "Why can't they see? Why can't the see what he's doing to them? Why can't they see what he did to me?" A trunk exploded the things that were inside swirled around Harry. "How could they let him do this?" A picture frame broke and fell of the wall. "How could he do that to me? "Harry shouted. Everything around him fell as he grabbed onto Professor Snape, crying, letting it all out.

Neither of them were sure how long they stayed like that, Harry hugging Professor Snape and Snape soothing Harry. Harry's grip loosened as his sobs slowed down, than finally stopped. He let go of Professor Snape and sat beck on the bed. "I'm sorry Professor."

"You have nothing to be sorry about Harry. None of that was your fault, Lily and James should never have treated you like that. And as for crying on me, it's not the first time a student has done that. It's fine."

Harry looked at professor Snape with a new sense of admiration. "Thank you sir. For listening."

"It's no problem Harry, you know that if you ever have a problem, you can come to me, right?"

"Yes sir." after a pause Harry said, "Actually, I've been wondering, about summer vacation. Now that I'm disowned, where will I go?"

"I'm sure that Lucious, Draco's father, would take you in if you wanted. Or you could stay with me if you are uncomfortable with that. However, that's a long time away. You don't need to worry about that now, but the same applies to Christmas break if you don't want to spend it here."

"Draco has already invited me over for Christmas day; I don't think I wasn't to impose anymore."

"Then would you like to spend the break with me?" Snape wished he could take a picture of the look Harry was giving him.

"Do you really mean it professor?" Harry asked, trying not to get his hopes up, but failing miserably.

"Of course I do, I rarely say anything I don't mean. "

"Thank you professor!" Harry hugged the professor once more.

"It's no problem Harry. Now, it's lunch time, and as you didn't eat breakfast, I'm sure you are very hungry." With that, Harry jumped off the bed and went down to lunch, where he met up with Draco.

"Guess what Draco? I get to spend Christmas break with Professor Snape!" Draco dropped his fork onto his plate.

"What? Really? That's so cool!" The pair went on eating lunch. Afterwards, Professor Snape called Draco over to the side of the hallway.

"While I appreciate the fact that you didn't want to betray Harry's trust, you know that you should have told me about his nightmares sooner, correct?"

"Yes sir, I'm sorry." Draco seemed to find something really interesting about his feet.

"Then I trust you won't so it again."

"Yes sir."

"Very well, you're dismissed."

Draco ran off to hang out with his friends. They spent the rest of the afternoon keeping Harry from doing his homework, ("That's what Sunday's are for!" Draco kept telling him) and trying to teach Pansy and Daphne to ride brooms. Madam Hooch was a great teacher and all, but she couldn't focus all her attention on the two girls, and they really needed help.

The day ended too soon for all of them. After wearing themselves out, they all fell asleep quickly. For the first time in years, Harry slept straight through the night.

# # #

That Sunday, as promised, had been spent doing homework. Professor Snape had come into the Common room to tutor Crabbe and Goyle, as he had for the past six weeks. Their grades were really improving, and not just in potions.

On that Monday, Harry and Draco had to leave breakfast early, as they had forgotten their books in their room. They had no trouble getting there, but on the way back, they ran into Weaselbee and the annoying book worm he cheated off of all the time. "Well look what we have here. A couple of stupid slimy snakes." Ron spat.

"I love how you call us stupid when we get better grades than you. You wouldn't even still be here if you didn't cheat off of the nerd you call a friend." Draco insulted.

"At least I don't support You-Know-Who!" Granger yelled at them.

"Better him than a manipulating old coot like Dumbledork!" Harry roared.

"That's it!" Ron yelled as he pulled out his wand. Before any of them could move, some sort of black light came out of his wand. The light hit Harry in his right arm. He slammed into the back wall just as Professor McGonagall was coming around the corner. "What is going on here?" She yelled.

"He tried to attack me!" Ron accused.

"It's a lie!" Draco yelled out. "Harry and I were coming from our dorms because we forgot our books and Weasley and Granger stopped us and insulted us. Then Ron pulled out his wand and some black light came out and hit Harry!" As if he just remembered Harry, Draco ran over to him and picked him up. He started to walk away.

"Where do you think you're going?" professor McGonagall ran after him.

Draco didn't even stop. "To the hospital wing! He needs help!" Professor McGonagall was about to stop him, but then she saw Harry's arm, or rather, what was left of it. From the elbow down was bone. Skin fell off of it like he had been skinned. Blood was dripping down from his bony fingers. She gasped.

Draco paid them no more attention as he ran off to the hospital wing. Stupid Weasel! Didn't he realize how bad accidental magic through a wand was?

Draco bursted though the doors of the hospital wing, still carrying Harry. He laid him down on the nearest bed and screamed, "Madam Pomfrey!"

Madam Pomfrey came out from her office and gasped. However, she wasted no time on getting to work, not even to shoo Draco away. He stood there watching as she cast spell after spell and gave him potion after potion. He barely even registered what he was doing as he firecalled Professor Snape.

"Draco? What's going on?" Professor Snape could see that something was wrong by Draco's face, even if it was through a fireplace.

"Sir, it's Harry! Weasel hit him with some sort of spell! His arm…."

Snape jumped through the fireplace and into the hospital wing, rushing past Draco to get to Harry's side. He pulled out a potion, helping Madam Pomfrey. What in the world had Weasley done to him? This wasn't any kind of spell Professor Snape knew. Judging by her look, it wasn't something Madam Pomfrey had seen before either. They worked together for hours, trying to regrow muscles that had vanished and reattach the ones that were still there while causing Harry as little pain as possible. All the pain reliever potion in the world wouldn't have helped though. Snape was just happy that he was unconscious, and that Draco had had the sense to go into the office.

Draco sat in the office, waiting. Just waiting. Oh how he hated waiting. The whole time you just don't know what's happening, if he's okay or not, if he'll still be able to use his arm when it was done. The git had gotten his dominate arm too. If Weasel has to serve two dentations a day with Professor Snape for the rest of his life, it won't be enough.

A/N: I must say, I'm quite proud of this chapter. But down to business, we all know who Harry's dad is going to be, but I'm not sure who the mom should be. Either put it in a review or vote on my profile, please?

FF Out.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Professor Snape and Madam Pomfrey had been working on Harry for what seemed like hours. Draco hadn't moved since. He just kept sitting there, waiting, and waiting. He was still for so long so when the door opened, he jumped at the foreign noise.

Professor Snape was standing there, his black robes stained with blood. Harry's blood. Draco shuddered involuntarily. Why Harry? He'd already been through so much, now this?

"Draco." Professor Snape said. "Harry's fine." Draco let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding. "He'll have to rebuild the muscle that he lost, but other than that, he should be fine. Now, I need you to tell me exactly what happened."

And he did. Draco told Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore, and his father what had happened. The four of them had a meeting in the Headmaster's office. Besides the offer for lemon drops, they skipped the pleasantries.

"The sort of behavior that Mr. Weasley showed is unacceptable. He should be expelled, at the least." Snape said.

"Now now Severus, there's no need for such drastic measures. Ron assures me it was just an accident." Dumbledore countered.

"No need for drastic measures!" Lucious exclaimed. "A student almost lost his arm because of Mr. Weasley's 'accident'!

"If Harry hadn't insulted Ron, then he wouldn't have overreacted and accidently set off a spell. So-" Dumbledore was cut off.

"Are you really trying to blame all this on Harry? He was simply coming back from his dorm where he had forgotten his books when Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger insulted him and my son. Then Mr. Weasley cast some sort of spell at Harry. Where in there did Harry do anything wrong?"

"It seems you are quite mistaken Lucious. Ron has told me that he was simply hanging around in the hallway when Harry and Draco ambushed him and Hermione. It was all in self-defense."

"That's a lie and you know it."

"Well, it seems all we have to go on is the accounts of two students. There doesn't seem to be enough evidence in here to punish anyone." Dumbledore smiled smugly, thinking he had won.

"That's where you are wrong Headmaster. My son has given me a memory pertaining to the event. I assure you that is all the Wizemgot needs."

"You're suing the Weasleys?"

"Not the Weasleys, just Ronald." At that moment, Dumbledore knew he was beaten. There was no way he could get out of this. He would have to punish Ron severely if he wanted to keep his position as Headmaster. He cursed Ron's stupidity. "So how are you planning on punishing Mr. Weasley?'

"I think a detention every day, excluding Sundays, for the rest of the school year will be sufficient." Dumbledore conceded.

"As his Head of House, I will give Ronald his detentions-" Professor McGonagall started.

"It seems you have forgotten the rules Minerva." Severus spoke up. "If any student is injured, the Head of House of the injured student is to give out the detentions to the other student. Therefore, Mr. Weasley will be serving detention with me, starting today," he sneered. It's good to be the king.

# # #

Needless to say, Ron did not enjoy his detentions. Professor Snape had him doing all sorts of demeaning and gross chores. Not to mention he was being sued over Christmas break. What kind of person sued someone over Christmas vacation?

Harry had been sentenced to bed rest for the remainder of the year. He was slowly gaining all of the muscle back, but it was slow going. He had to keep is arm in a sling most of the time. However, that didn't mean he was falling behind in class. When he wasn't teaching or giving Ron detentions, Professor Snape was torturing Harry in all the classes he was missing.

What had happened had gotten around school quickly. People were sending Harry all sorts of cards and candy, and a few girls had sent him flowers. He wasn't sure quite what to think about that.

Soon, it was Christmas break. The whole school seemed to be alive. Harry was finally released from the Hospital wing just in time for breakfast the day the term ended. He was late, due to Madam Pomfrey frantic last minute checkups.

When Harry did walk into the hall, the entire Slytherin table cheered. The Gryffindors booed along with the Hufflepuff. They know just how to make a block feel wanted.

Harry scrambled to eat something that wasn't a nutrient potion. The eggs and bacon were the best he had ever had, if only because it had been so long since he'd had real food.

When breakfast was done, Harry and Draco went back to their dorms to get Draco's things. Harry was staying with Professor Snape, so he would just stay at Hogwarts. He would have to leave the grounds twice over the break, one for the day Lord Malfoy was suing Ron for him and the other for Christmas day.

"Hey, Harry, are you gonna be okay staying here alone the whole time?" Draco asked before he left.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Professor Snape will be here, and Ron won't. Plus, I'll be seeing you for Christmas, so, not a big deal, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Just, be careful, alright?"

"Yeah, okay, I will."

"Great, I'll see you at Christmas!"

"See you at Christmas!" Harry watched the train leave. When it did, he went to the dungeons to meet up with Professor Snape, who had promised to take Harry to Hogsmeade so he could buy his friends Christmas presents.

Professor Snape and Harry walked down to Hogsmeade in silence. Harry was caught up in all the different stores. How was he supposed to know where to get Draco's present?

Fortunately, Professor Snape seemed to understand what Harry was thinking. He led Harry over to a shop called Zonko's Joke shop. Everywhere Harry looked was some sort of prank item. There were shelves upon shelves on the wall, all piled high to the ceiling.

Harry ran around like a mad man trying to see everything. He ended up picking out a screaming yo-yo and a few fake wands for Draco. Walking up to the cash register, Harry realized he had no money. He turned around to put the items back, but Professor Snape gave him a few galleons. "Consider it my present to you, Harry." was all that he said. Harry thanked the professor and paid for his gifts. The two of them walked out.

Harry enjoyed his time at Hogwarts. He spent the days helping Professor Snape in his lab, and afterwards he went to the Hospital Wing for physical therapy. He didn't enjoy that too much, but it did nothing to damper his mood.

The second Monday of the break was Christmas. Harry had woken early. He had stayed in bed for a few minutes before he realized what day it was. Jumping out of bed, Harry ran to Professor Snape's room. Before thinking about it, he opened the door and yelled out, "Professor Snape, wake up! It's Christmas!"

Professor Snape wasn't happy at being woken up, but couldn't help but share in the joy harry was feeling. He slowly crawled out of bed and over to the door. "So it is Harry, so it is. And Merry Christmas to you."

Harry's smile brighten as he said, "Merry Christmas to you too sir. When are we going to the Malfoy's?"

"As soon as you eat something." Harry ran off to find something really fast to eat before Professor Snape called out to him, "I mean a real breakfast, in the Great Hall." Harry groaned before he went to his room to get dressed.

Minutes later, Professor Snape led Harry down to the Great Hall, after making sure Harry had brushed his teeth, and his hair, and made his bed. All his normal chores seemed to slip his mind.

Harry ate breakfast at the teacher's table next to Professor Snape, as he always did. Professor Snape had to tell him to slow down five times.

Harry was too busy trying to eat as fast as possible and please his professor at the same time to notice Dumbledore's gaze on him. He knew he had to act fast. If Harry made it to the Malfoy's he might run into his real father and Dumbledore couldn't have that happen. If the truth were to get out… well, Dumbledore was already petty unpopular at the moment, he didn't need any more bad press, especially something as bad as that. No, Harry couldn't make it to the Malfoy's. But how would he stop him?

Dumbledore smiled as a plan formed in his head. Yes, it would do nicely. Now, to call in some favors.

# # #

Draco was jumping around. His father had given up telling him to sit still. It had been days since he'd seen his best friend. Yes, Harry was his best friend. Sure, he'd only known him for half a year, but he was the only true friend Draco had. All of his other 'friends' were merely allies. And, while great to have, they weren't the same as friends.

So, being as jumpy as Draco was, he raced to the door when he heard a knock. Opening the door, he smiled, expecting Harry. To his disappointment, it wasn't Harry, it was some man, probably there for his father. Draco's smile fell.

Lucious walked much more calmly to the door tan his son. While he was just as excited as his son, he knew how to control it.

Even Lucious couldn't keep the surprise off his face as he saw Alastair Moody walking into his house like he owned the place. "Mr. Malfoy." His gruff voice sounded out.

Lord Malfoy ignored him. Instead he turned his attention to his son. "Draco, why don't you go upstairs." Draco moved to obey his father, but was stopped by Moody's arm.

"No, the brat should be here to hear what his father's done."

"Leave my son alone, Alastair! This has nothing to do with him. Furthermore, I have done no wrong." Lucious almost yelled. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't a callous killer, he put his family above all else.

"On behalf of the Ministry," Alastair started, obviously ignoring Lucious, "I sentence Lord Lucious Malfoy to five years in Azkaban, without a trial, for being a conformed Death Eater. I hereby arrest you."

Lucious just laughed. "Do you really think that will stick? I was cleared years ago."

Alastair said nothing as he moved to take Lucious's wand. Before he could, however, the door was opened once more to reveal another auror. This one was Jack Smith. He was rumored to be the right hand of the Minister himself, although the other aurors called him a teacher's pet.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion, Lord Malfoy, Auror Moody has gone against the minister's explicit instructions. He seems to believe he knows better than the Wizemgot." Smith said.

"No problem at all Auror Smith. This was not your fault." Smith titled his head slightly to acknowledge Lucious. Then he led Moody out of the manor. Moody yelled out the entire way.

"He's nothing but a Death eater! He doesn't deserve to be free!" He only stopped when Auror Smith apparated him away.

# # #

After the excitement of the mourning, the rest of Christmas seemed boring. Harry came over shortly after the Aurors left. He was immediately led into the sitting room. There were five stockings hanging from the mantle in front of the fire place. They were all labeled, _Lucious, Narcissa, Draco, Severus,_ and _Harry. _The tree was over on the other side of the room. It was surrounded by presents.

Harry and Draco took turns handing out gifts to everyone. It was hours before they were done. When they were, Harry had more stuff than he knew what to do with. He had gotten muggle clothes, cloaks, books, toys, candy, and everything else he could ever want. He was flabbergasted.

Draco and Harry stayed in the sitting room for hours playing with their presents. They were having so much fun, they didn't even realize it when the adults left to talk in the kitchen. Narcissa and Severus were filled in. They all came to the same conclusion. Dumbledore had tried something foolhardy, and it didn't work, thank goodness. Still, they would have to keep an eye on him.

At six o'clock, the five occupants of the house sat down to a feast smaller, but way better than any ever served at Hogwarts. They had chicken, turkey, pork, ham, beef, rice, pasta, beans, peas, potatoes, corn, pizza, sandwiches, cheeseburgers, and hot dogs. They ate until they were sure they would burst. Then of course, came desert. They had ice cream, pie, cake, pudding, chocolate, cookies, brownies, and pastries. Harry had never had so much food at once.

All too soon for Harry, it was time to go. Professor Snape side along apparated him back to Hogwarts, where he fell asleep as soon as he got to his bed, dreaming of the best Christmas of his life.

A/N: Well aren't you lucky? I actually updated when I said I would. I myself am as happy as a bird with a French fry. Next chapter comes Ron's day in court. Won't that be fun? Anyway, Merry Christmas, or Happy Whatever-It-Is-You-Celebrate Day! Totaloo!

FF Out.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't think I ever did this, so ummm, me no own-ey.

Chapter Nine

A few days later, two men met in a room. The curtains were drawn tightly closed, no lights were on. The first man was kneeling on the floor, completely clothed in black. The second was standing with his back to the first man. There was a purple turban lying forgotten on an armchair not far away.

"What is it?" A horse whisper of a voice rang out in the room. It sounded as if it were coming from the back of the second man's head.

"My Lord, the Wizemgot is meeting today for a case between Lord Malfoy and a Ronald Weasley. Lord Malfoy is suing Mr. Weasley on behalf of another student, a Harry." The servant answered.

"Harry what?"

"Harry nothing. He has no last name. Apparently, he used to be a Potter, but he was disowned for being in Slytherin."

"Ah yes, that Harry. He's a first year at Hogwarts. Use the Imperious curse on the Minister, again, and make sure he rules on the side of Lord Malfoy and Harry."

"Yes My Lord." The servant got ready to leave.

"One more thing, find out if there can be any spectators. I feel I shouldn't miss this case." With that, the servant left. The second man wrapped his head in the turban and swept gracefully out of the room.

# # #

Harry enjoyed the rest of his free days the same way he did his first few free days. All too soon for him, the day of the trial came. Professor Snape told Harry to dress in the nice robes he had gotten for Christmas.

They met Lord Malfoy just outside the Great Hall, right after breakfast. They apparated to the courtroom together. Most people have no idea that wizards can just apparate into a courtroom. Most of them used the pathetic muggle entrances.

Harry looked around nervously. There were a lot of scary looking people sitting around him. Professor Snape sensed Harry's nervousness and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Harry relaxed visibly, but was still jumpy.

Professor Snape went to sit in the audience. Lucious, as he was suing for Harry, went to the middle of the room with him. They sat two of the arm chairs that were there. They were a few minutes early, so they waited. Ron Weasley and his father walked in next and sat in the two remaining chairs.

The Wizemgot was called to order soon after the Weasleys arrived. The minister, Cornelius Fudge, stood up.

"Prosecutor, please present your evidence." He announced. He was blunt and to the point.

Lord Malfoy stood up and motioned for Harry to do the same. "Our evidence is in the form of a memory, taken from Draco Lucious Malfoy." A pensieve came to the center of the room, right next to Lucious. He pulled Draco's memory out of his pocket and inserted it into the pensieve. Instead of having everyone be drawn into the pensieve, the memory was displayed outside of it, like a projection.

When the memory was over, the Wizemgot was murmuring. This was turning out exactly how Lucious wanted it to.

Fudge spoke up again. "Is that all the evidence the prosecution has?" Lucious nodded. "Defense, please present your evidence."

Arthur stood up and looked around before dropping his head. "We don't actually have any evidence." he said meekly.

Fudge muttered under his breath. "Why was this even brought to trial?" Arthur sat back down. Ron glared at him.

Fudge turned to the Lords and Ladies seated behind him. "All in favor of Lord Malfoy and Mr. Harry." The entire Wizemgot raised their hands, except for Lord Potter. "Then it's settled. Lord Malfoy wins in this case. Ronald Weasley will be forced to work until he can pay off the medical bills he caused Mr. Harry to need. Court dismissed." The Lords and Ladies got up and started leaving.

Ron was outraged. How could they do that? The Malfoys were rich; they could more than afford to pay for the bills, why were they forcing Ron to pay? Oh, Harry was going to pay. Maybe not right now, but he will pay.

# # #

Professor Quirrell was watching the case unfold. He was impressed by what he saw. Not that it mattered; Lord Malfoy had the Weasleys cornered. He turned around to head down the stairs. As soon as he did, he heard a gasp from the back of his head. He had left his turban open slightly so that His Lord could see out of it.

Voldemort was glad with what he saw, but mad at the same time. How dare that idiot hurt him? How dare he be hidden away for so long? Voldemort erupted into a rage. Professor Quirrell ran out of there as soon as he could. He didn't want anyone to notice he had a face on the back of his head.

# # #

Harry went back to Hogwarts after the Wizemgot made its decision. There were only a few days left in the break, and he planned to make the most of them. He was finally cleared by Madam Pomfrey to take his arm out of the sling. So, the first thing he did was drag Professor Snape outside in the snow.

Professor Snape hid a smile as he watched Harry try to build a snowman by himself. Eventually, the smile won out. He walked over to Harry and grabbed the snowman's midsection from him and out it onto the top of the snowman. Harry smiled at him. Before he knew it, the two had made two snowmen, one large, one small, and had a huge snowball fight.

The fight started out with Harry throwing a snowball at Professor Snape, which made every non Slytherin student that was outside cringe. To their surprise, Professor Snape just grinned and threw a snowball back.

Before long, every student that was outside had joined the fight. No one was quite sure what team they were on or if there were even any teams. All anyone knew was that Harry and Snape were on the same team. And they were dominating.

Snape would provide himself as a target while Harry would sneak up from behind and unleash his fury. Once the person was covered with snow, they ran off to find another, Harry giggling all the way.

It was night time when Harry and Snape finally went inside. They had skipped dinner, so they ate in the kitchen. When they got back to the room, Harry fell asleep almost immediately after lying down.

# # #

Voldemort was seething in his manor. How dare he? How dare that manipulating old fool steal his son? How dare he keep his son from him for ten years? How dare he make him go through years of agony, wishing he could die? Well no more. He would pay. And his son, Calidus Malum Riddle, would be his once again, and nothing would stop him.

Voldemort sat back in his chair, glaring at anyone who got too close right now. He needed to plan, and he needed to plan fast.

# # #

Harry bounced in his seat at breakfast. Tonight, Draco was coming back to school. Sure, the rest of the school was coming back too, but Harry really didn't care too much about them. Well, he cared about Ron a bit because he was scared, but he knew the other Slytherins would protect him. Professor Snape made sure of that.

Harry spent his last day roaming around the castle. He enjoyed having the whole place basically to himself. It was more, peaceful here without all of the noisy kids yelling everywhere. He was going to miss it.

The more Harry walked around, the more he realized he had no idea where he was or where he was going. He was lost. Oh, Professor Snape was not going to be happy. Harry turned around to see if he retrace his steps. That worked for a little while, but then the stairs changed right before he could get on them. As far as he knew, that was the only way out of this corridor. Great, just great, he was truly and utterly lost.

Harry sat down on the edge of the corridor and let his legs dangle down. He looked down a few floors. Wow, he was kind of high up. He was probably on the seventh floor. How did he even get there?

Harry looked down again and saw black robes billowing in a familiar way. He almost jumped for joy. "Professor Snape!" He yelled out. On the ground a few floors down, Professor Snape stopped walking. "Professor Snape!" Harry yelled again. Professor Snape looked around before looking up. He saw Harry sitting on the ledge. "I'm kind of lost. Sir." Professor Snape shook his head at Harry. He was truly a magnet for trouble.

Professor Snape walked away. Most of Harry knew he was just going to get help or something, but a small part of Harry couldn't help but feel like Professor Snape was leaving him.

Harry waited for what seemed like ever. At some point, he must have fallen asleep, because he felt Professor Snape waking him up. "What were you thinking?" was the first thing out of his mouth.

"I'm sorry sir, I was just wandering around and I sort of got lost." Harry let his head drop.

Professor Snape sighed. "You know that it was incredibly stupid of you to do that, right?"

"Yes sir." Harry agreed.

"Then I suppose that's enough punishment for now." Professor Snape smiled at Harry and helped him up. "It's almost time for the feast, and Draco should be here soon." Harry smiled at this and they made their way back down to the first floor.

# # #

Harry sat waiting for Draco at the Slytherin table. He couldn't wait until he got there. Harry heard voices from the hallway. Harry's head jerked over to the giant door excitedly. Draco emerged from a crowd of people and ran over to Harry. "Harry!"

"Draco!"

"You guys act like you haven't seen each other in years. Didn't you just see each other on Christmas Day?" Pansy asked them. They blushed.

"Draco and Harry sitting in a tree." Blaise began to sing.

"Shut up!" Draco said playfully as he pushed Blaise.

Soon after, the feast began. It wasn't as big as the Welcoming Feast, but it was still good. Dumbledore got up to say something, but Harry didn't listen to him. He never said anything worthwhile anyway. The students left the feast and stumbled off to bed.

# # #

A few days later, Harry was at dinner with his friends again. All of the sudden, Professor Quirrell barged into the Great Hall. Only, he wasn't wearing his turban. Instead of that, there was a face on the back of his head. The face had red eyes. It was frightening.

The doors of the Great Hall locked tightly behind Quirrell. A few first years squealed. Quirrell walked straight up to Dumbledore and pointed his wand in his face. "Did you really think it was going to work?" A snake-like voice said from the back of Quirrell's head.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Dumbledore acted coy.

"Oh, come now Dumbledore! Did you really think I wouldn't know? Did you really think I wouldn't know my own son when I saw him?" Voldemort almost screamed at Dumbledore.

"You must be confused-"

"I'M NOT CONFUSED!" Voldemort yelled. "Do not make me kill you Dumbledore. You know what I'm talking about. You took my son from me ten years ago and sent him to live with people you controlled. Then you placed the imperious curse on me and tried to make me kill him!" Voldemort's voice dripped with venom. "Now, I want to know, where is my son, and what have you done to him?"

Dumbledore said nothing. He glared defiantly at Voldemort. Big mistake. "Crucio!" Voldemort yelled out. Dumbledore fell to the ground a withered around in pain. The students flinched. Voldemort let the spell die. "Where is my son?"

Wordlessly, Dumbledore gave up. His head fell down in shame. He pointed at the Slytherin table. Straight at one Harry.

A/N: Okay, so, I've never been to court or anything like that, so I kind of improvised on the Wizemgot part. Feel free to critique. Also, yeah, it might be a bit rushed or something but it's late, I haven't slept in a while, and I really had to get this out or you wouldn't have it for a while seeing as school starts the day after tomorrow, and life took over my tomorrow. So, yeah. Hope you liked it!

FF Out.


	10. Chapter 10

_Last time:_

_Dumbledore said nothing. He glared defiantly at Voldemort. Big mistake. "Crucio!" Voldemort yelled out. Dumbledore fell to the ground a withered around in pain. The students flinched. Voldemort let the spell die. "Where is my son?"_

_Wordlessly, Dumbledore gave up. His head fell down in shame. He pointed at the Slytherin table. Straight at one Harry._

Chapter Ten:

Harry looked at the imposing figure that used to be his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. The bald two-faced man let go of the charm that was holding Dumbledore in place and walked over to Harry. Harry didn't know who this guy was, but he figured he probably wasn't good.

Harry got up from his seat and bolted out of the Great Hall. He heard people calling out to him, but he didn't pay them any attention. Harry ran left, right, right again, around a curve, up some stairs, and all around. He wasn't sure where he was, but it didn't matter. He just knew he had to keep running.

Harry ran into a dead end. There weren't any doors or escape routes of any kind. So, he turned around to try and backtrack; only the scary guy was right there. The guy who used to be Quirrell smiled and walked towards Harry. Harry backed up against the wall, trying to run away. Needless to say, it didn't work.

Quirrell picked Harry up and put him over his shoulder. He was too light for it to be healthy. And now that he thought about it, he was rather short too. Something would have to be done, but that would happen later. First, he would have to explain to his son who he really was.

Harry screamed and pounded his fists on the man's back, but it didn't work. Nothing worked. Suddenly remembering that he was a wizard, Harry reached for his wand, only to have it taken away by the red eyed man.

Tom Riddle carried his son away and took him past the apparation wards of Hogwarts. It was then that he realized he had nowhere to go. It had been years since he had actually needed a place to stay. The last place he had stayed at had been Malfoy Manner. Lucius probably wouldn't be happy if he just showed up unannounced, but he would get over it soon enough.

Making up his mind, Tom apparated to Malfoy manner. He felt the familiar suffocating sensation of being pulled through a straw. His son gasped for breath in his arms. Oopes. Probably should have warned the kid. Oh well, too late now.

"Hello?" Tom called out in his raspy voice, expecting Lucious to be there.

Lucius popped out from around a corner with his wand up. "Tom? Is that really you?" he asked, being paranoid.

"Of course it's me Lucius, who else can get through your wards?"

"As of last week, Alistair Moody."

Harry, who had calmed down when he saw Lucius, spoke up. "Mr. Malfoy? Who is this, what's going on? Why did you take me from school?"

"As first question, this is an old friend of mine, Tom Riddle. As for the others, I have no idea Harry." Lucius looked at Tom, waiting for his answer.

"It's a bit of a long story; can we retire to the Living room?" Tom said as he started walking towards it. That was Tom for you; he never really asked permission for anything.

The Living Room had changed since Christmas. The tree and stockings were gone, as were all of the lights and other decorations. The Living Room was now full of ornate looking, cream couches. On one side there was a fireplace and a cup of floo powder on the mantle. The carpet was a light tan color and very soft.

Tom sat down on one of the couches and put his son down next to him. Lucius sat across from them. Tom began his story. "It all started a number of decades ago, when Dumbledore was out one night. He was at the Hog's Head, talking to a mysterious man. This man was supposedly a fortune teller. Dumbledore, who was down on his luck at that point, wanted to know when things would get better. The fortune teller told him that although he was underappreciated now, one day, people all over the world would call him their savior and hero for defeating a Dark Lord. He was told that he would gain more power, money, fame, and respect than he could ever dream of. Dumbledore held out hope, waiting for the day it would come true.

"Nine years later, when Dumbledore was giving up, Grindelwald came about. We all know that Dumbledore challenged him to a duel and beat him. Dumbledore's influence grew fast, as did his money. People were so grateful to him for saving them. Dumbledore thought that the money would keep coming, so he spent it all. Soon, he was broke again. He couldn't let anyone know this of course, so he came up with a plan. If he could destroy another Dark Lord, then he would get more money and be set for the rest of his life. And if he wasn't, he'd just defeat another Dark Lord. Unfortunately for him, there were no more Dark Lords. So, he decided to make one.

"Dumbledore waited until the right student came along. In his eyes, I was perfect. I was in Slytherin, I had a bad background, and I hated the Muggles that I knew. Over time, he began to shape my reputation, always claiming that I was evil, and bound to be the next dark Lord. So when Dumbledore began attacking people and blaming it on me, no one questioned him.

"One night, Dumbledore was interviewing a professor for Divination. He paid her to give out a prophecy that would spell the end of me. It talked of a child, born as the seventh mouth dies to parents that had thrice defied me. He found that a boy named Neville Longbottom fit the criteria, but he didn't like the child. So he had to come up with another.

"I still don't know how, but he somehow found out that I had a child. He took my child away from me, and passed him off as someone else. Then, when both families were in hiding, he forced me to almost kill my own son. He also tortured the Longbottom boy's parents into insanity."

Then Tom turned to the boy that was next to him on the couch. "Harry, I took you from school because you are that boy. You are my son, Calidus Malum Riddle."

Harry (now Calidus) looked into Tom's eyes, his own eyes filled with shock. Never had he dreamed that he wasn't really a Potter, that he really did have a family that loved him. Now that he had a real father, a good father, he didn't know what to think. It was like his mind had been filled with sludge. "So, you're my father." was all he seemed to get out.

Tom laughed. "Yes, I am. I know it must be hard for you, but I am your father. And I will never let you down again, I promise."

Before Calidus could respond, Draco's head came through the fireplace. "Dad!" he yelled out. "Quirrell went berserk and kidnapped Harry! He had a second face on the back of his head! What are we going to do?"

Lucius went to the fireplace to calm his own son down. "Now now Dragon, it's all alright. Tom didn't really kidnap Harry; he just brought him here, where he's safe. I'll explain everything; just come on though the fire place."

Draco, too relieved to speak, just nodded and a few seconds later, came tumbling out of the fireplace. "Harry!" he yelled out as he went and hugged his friend.

"Apparently, it's Calidus now." Calidus said. Draco just looked at him confused.

"Come Dragon." His father called. "We will talk in the other room." Draco got up from the couch and followed him to the kitchen where Lucius explained everything to Draco.

While they were there, Tom explained a bit more to Calidus. "Do you remember anything about that night, Calidus?"

Calidus nodded. "I remember that you were about to kill me but you tried to kill yourself instead. Then Dumbledore came in and gave me a weird scar, now I can't get rid of it. Why did you try to kill me?"

"I didn't want to. Dumbledore had me under the imperious curse. It gives on wizard control over another wizard or animal."

"Oh. Well, if you killed yourself that night, how are you still alive now?"

"Honestly? I have no idea." Tom laughed at his own joke. "But you must have noticed, I'm not fully alive. At least, not yet. There is a potion that will bring me back, but I need the blood of a family member, a source of my own DNA, and snake venom to make the potion. The more poisonous the snake venom, the better."

"So, you need my blood for it?" Calidus paled a bit at the thought.

"Don't worry my little snake; it only requires a few drops." Tom reassured Calidus, using the pet name he had used when he was a baby.

Calidus was visibly calmed by this. The two Riddles just sat for a moment. Then Calidus asked, "What about school? I mean, the whole school now knows who I am. Dumbledore really won't like that at all."

"I'm not sure yet." Tom replied. "I'll talk to Lucius and Severus about it. Then we'll decide. In the meantime, you look exhausted. Why don't you go up to bed?"

Calidus just nodded, not bothering to try and stifle his yawn. Just then Lucius and Draco came back into the room. Lucius seemed to agree with Tom. "Draco, why don't you show Calidus to one of the guest bedrooms upstairs. It seems as if both of you are tired."

Draco nodded and started walking upstairs, with Calidus right behind him. They both called out goodnight and then were out of sight.

"Calidus." Draco said, trying it out. "It's got a good ring to it, but it's kind of long. You need a nickname."

"I guess so. What do you have in mind?"

"I don't know, What about Cal? It's short, sweet, and easy to remember."

"Yeah, keep trying." Calidus laughed at the name. Draco scowled at him.

They got to the first door on the right at the top of the stairs. "This is my room." Draco said. "There's an empty one right there if you want that one." he pointed to the one right next to it.

"Yeah, thanks." Calidus said as he went inside and fell asleep immediately. He hadn't realized how tired he was.

# # #

Downstairs, Severus came as quick as he could. It seemed Dumbledore was holing himself up in his office, supposedly in guilt. The men knew that he was really in there trying to salvage his plans. Severus and Lucius took turns explaining everything that had happened to Calidus that year, and everything they knew of his past. To say the Tom wasn't happy was the biggest understatement of the century. He was livid. It took all Lucius and Severus had to top his from killing Dumbledore and the Potters where they stood.

When Tom had a semblance of calm, they began to make their own plans, against Dumbledore's. They figured if they acted fast enough, they could make sure he took the blame for all that he did. Lucius called the Daily Prophet and scheduled an interview for the next day. Calidus and Tom would have the most to say, but Lucius, Draco, and Severus could provide more proof to back up the Riddles' statements. Maybe Tom's name could be cleared after all.

The next order of business was the potion that would give Tom his body back. He already had the blood from Calidus, once he gave it of course, but he still needed to find some of his DNA and then some snake venom. Snake venom was easy enough, most potion stores had some. Severus declared that he had some Black Mamba venom in his stores. Neither of the other men wanted to know why he had that. The DNA was going to be the hard part.

A/N: Hehe… Hi. *Rubs neck and looks down in shame.* Sorry about the wait and all. I just looked up this story and realized it had been a whole term since I updated. At all. I'm really sorry about that. I know that it's unfair to you, my lovely readers, and I ask for your forgiveness. That is, if I have any readers left. Secondly, I also ask for ideas. They always help, and most of them will spark something else that will get the story moving. So if you want to read more, suggest ideas! And again, I'm really, really sorry!

FF Out.


End file.
